Veterans Aren’t Always Culturally Competent About Veterans

This is something I am learning. Even veterans can sometimes misunderstand veterans—and I find that both humbling and important.

We like to say “all veterans deserve access,” but in practice, I’ve seen well-intentioned people draw invisible lines about which veterans have “earned” that access. As well as, which veteran service organizations are "quailified" to serve veterans.

It happens in many settings. I was once on a call where a highly educated and decorated veteran leader dismissed certain MOSs struggling with PTSD. I had to politely remind them: the data tells a different story. About 13 million Americans live with PTSD at any given time—and this is not just a combat-related challenge. We cannot assume no combat = no PTSD.

I saw this again first hand, highlighted in my last article, where a veteran in crisis was triaged incorrectly because their symptoms didn’t look emergent, when in fact their life was at risk. And most recently, during a discovery call with a new organization, where research and data seemed to unintentionally buff against a new tech business model. That conversation was a reminder that veteran identity—and the assumptions attached to it—remains one of the biggest barriers to service in the veteran and military community.

Why Research Matters

Understanding research is critical—because the data is fairly consistent. This isn’t about “evidence-based programming.” This is large-scale, long-term research funded by leading institutions. It tells us who veterans are, what risks they face, what barriers exist, and how issues like veteran identity plays into asking for and receiving help for our Veteran and military community.

Here's what you should know:

• Millions remain unserved: The U.S. has ~18 million veterans. About 9 million are eligible for VA care, but only 6 million use it—leaving 3 million eligible veterans unserved.

• The other 9 million: Millions more once took the oath but don’t meet VA eligibility. Their situations are complex and not just about dishonorable discharges or failure to meet the 24 month time-period. Think Reserve and Guard members, bad paper or lack of documentation, income thresholds, no service-connected disability, or geographic barriers. For example, rural veterans drive an average of 44.5 miles one way to a VA primary care clinic. Most won’t travel that far—making local access essential.

This data isn’t abstract. It explains why people fall through the cracks. And it demands that we design solutions with inclusion in mind.

Why Tech Alone Misses the Point

On this latest discovery call, I was asked why we created a Resource RADAR and continue to do resource management when “closed-loop referrals, warm handoffs, and identity verification” already exist through larger, well-known organizations (many of whom we actually partner with).

The question came: “How do you verify if someone is eligible?”

But here’s the distinction that often gets overlooked: not everyone seeking support is applying for VA benefits. We are talking about two separate issues—access to resources versus benefit eligibility.

This is what I thought of, take for example:

• Homeless veterans make up 5.3% of the U.S. homeless population (~33,000 people). Documentation and verification are nearly impossible when you don’t have an address or safe place for paperwork.

• Identity barriers are real. I’ve experienced it personally—locked out of platforms because my ID didn’t match my address as a mil spouse.

If tech can’t account for “outliers,” it becomes a barrier, not a bridge.

Innovation should reduce barriers, not add new ones. Our projects like Ashes to Honor (recovering lost service records from the fire of '71) or RallyPoint Serves (using tech to detect undiagnosed TBI) are examples of solutions that increase access without unnecessary verification hurdles. However, in both these cases, when benefits are needed we partner with verified organizations that provide these important services and warm hand-offs.

Closed-loop referrals are valuable. Warm handoffs are importand and needed. But they cannot be the only way forward. Sometimes the “solutions” create more exclusion than inclusion. We need the "and" mindset to ensure we reach as many as possible.

Scaling the Math

Let’s zoom out:

• 18 million veterans

• 9 million eligible for VA care

• 6 million using it (3 million eligible but unserved)

• 3,144 counties

• ~45,000 veteran-serving organizations

Now, consider:

• If we only counted large national organizations with budgets over $1M (and the assumption they only provided direct services), each would need to aim to serve 5,714 veterans annually just to reach all 18M (or 2,857 annually to reach only the 9M eligible for VA Benefits). That doesn’t even include families.

• But if we valued and activated local organizations—76% of which focus on direct quality-of-life services—the math looks different. Each of the 45,000 organizations would only need to serve about 400 veterans or military-connected individuals annually to reach all 18M.

That’s how the vision to serve all becomes reality.

The VA and national organizations can’t do it alone. Local organizations—the “special operations units” of this ecosystem—are nimble, adaptive, and positioned to fill gaps on the ground. The challenge in this vision is the lack of knowledge, understanding, partnership, funding, coordination, value, and inclusion of these resources on the ground.

This is why numbers matter. Why research matters. Why veteran cultural competency matters. Why organizations like ours matter.

Vision Beyond Scarcity

Every veteran, service member, and family member should be able to connect with services, opportunity, resources, and benefits in their local communities.

This is the vision because the research proves this is how we will reach and serve more. Qualification steps may be necessary, but too often they become barriers. And while no single organization can serve everyone, the goal should still be to leave no one behind. Anything less is scarcity thinking when abundance is possible.

Closing the Lens

We don’t get to redraw eligibility. We don’t get to pretend tech alone solves human challenges. We don’t get to limit the vision just because the system is hard.

Our job is simple, if not easy:

• Connect every veteran and family to services, resources, and benefits earned and needed.

• Translate red tape into a bridge, not a barrier.

• Expand reach where others stop.

At the end of every program, service, technology, and innovative idea is a person. A person who has served our nation and is now navigating unique barriers to the Veteran demographic to connect with us.

Make it your business to remain culturally competent about veterans or those you serve—even if you are a veteran. We have to take off our lens because when you put out that next “great idea,” it should bring people in, not leave them out.

That is how we close gaps. That is how we build solutions. That is how we support an ecosystem worthy of those who've served.

Published August 28, 2025 (LinkedIn)